The Why Because are a creative music collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area. This multi-faceted ensemble was founded in 2002 with the understanding that group membership would change over time, allowing for new perspectives and continual artistic growth. A diverse spectrum of ideas and influences guides their inquisitive explorations within a shifting stylistic framework.

Through interactive listening and structured improvisation, The Why Because have developed a shared musical language that evolves organically with each new incarnation. The group has appeared onstage with as few as four members and as many as ten, and more than twenty musicians and visual artists have contributed to their recordings and performances over the last four years, including past and present members of Subtle, Themselves, Run_Return, OKR, The Mothballs, Flimsy Vessels, The Maze Changes, GoGoGoAirheart, Waterline Drift, and The Yellow Press, among others.

'Musicshapes', the group's third release on their own Musicshapes label, was recorded by a sextet that included two members of the Oakland-based avant-rock/electronic/hip-hop outfit Subtle (Anticon). Captured live during this lineup's first session together, the five extended improvisations on Musicshapes feature an eclectic array of sounds and instrumentation, blending elements of space-rock, fiery jazz, ambient haze, and dubby, percussive stomp into a cohesive whole.

The music of The Why Because has evoked comparisons to the classic grooves of Can and electric-era Miles Davis, the modern tribal psychedelia of the Boredoms and Gang Gang Dance, the cosmic spiritual jazz of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Sun Ra, and the epic post-rock soundscapes of Cinematic Orchestra and Do Make Say Think.

Despite these striking reference points, the collective are much more than just the sum of their influences. As they continue to evolve and expand, it is evident from their intuitive flexibility and innovative spirit that The Why Because are a unique entity in the modern musical landscape.

Every performance is different... sometimes we try to achieve something specific, while other times everything is completely improvised. We like to use organic and electronic elements together, create soundscapes rather than "songs," and constantly challenge ourselves to try new approaches to making interesting music.

Once, someone said that they felt like they were hearing the evolution of music on earth slowly unfolding over the course of one of our structured improv sets... a beautfiul compliment indeed, and one that neatly sums up our collective aesthetic. We want to continue to push music forward, into the future, where genres and styles become blurred... until only the primal essence of sound itself remains, drifting out into eternity...